Successful Fare Strike This Morning - Tens of Thousands Ride NYC Subways for Free

[midnight]

Source: Occupy WAll Street

Posted 1 hour ago on March 28, 2012, 12:46 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt



Wednesday, March 28, 2012 — 10:30 AM
For Immediate Release: Forward far and wide.
Rank and File Initiative
[email protected]
Twitter: #farestrike

This morning before rush hour, teams of activists, many from Occupy Wall Street, in conjunction with rank and file workers from the Transport Workers Union Local 100 and the Amalgamated Transit Union, opened up more than 20 stations across the city for free entry. As of 10:30 AM, the majority remain open. No property was damaged. Teams have chained open service gates and taped up turnstiles in a coordinated response to escalating service cuts, fare hikes, racist policing, assaults on transit workers’ working conditions and livelihoods — and the profiteering of the super-rich by way of a system they’ve rigged in their favor.

For the last several years, riders of public transit have been under attack. The cost of our Metrocards has been increasing, while train and bus service has been steadily reduced. Budget cuts have precipitated station closings and staff/safety reductions. Police routinely single out young black and Latino men for searches at the turnstile. Layoffs and attrition means cutting staff levels to the bare minimum, reducing services for seniors and disabled riders. At the same time, MTA workers have been laid off and have had their benefits drastically reduced. Contract negotiations are completely stalled.

Working people of all occupations, colors and backgrounds are expected to sacrifice to cover the budget cut by paying more for less service. But here’s the real cause of the problem: the rich are massively profiting from our transit system. Despite the fact that buses and subways are supposed to be a public service, the government and the MTA have turned the system backwards—into a virtual ATM for the super-rich. Instead of using our tax money to properly fund transit, Albany and City Hall have intentionally starved transit of public funds for over twenty years; the MTA must resort to bonds (loans from Wall Street) to pay for projects and costs. The MTA is legally required to funnel tax dollars and fares away from transportation costs and towards interest on these bonds, called "debt service." This means Wall Street bondholders receive a huge share of what we put into the system through the Metrocards we buy and the taxes we pay: more than $2 billion a year goes to debt service, and this number is expected to rise every year. If trends continue, by 2018 more than one out of every five dollars of MTA revenue will head to a banker’s pockets.




Read more: http://occupywallst.org/

[KamaAina]

1. And here I was thinking they were only supposed to search terraists.

Police routinely single out young black and Latino men for searches at the turnstile.

Silly me.

[msongs]

2. force the mayor to ride the subway everywhere he goes in town nt

[Lucky Luciano]

3. Apparently he does sometimes. It is the fastest way to go

at times.

[midnight]

11. Hmm... this story indicates he spends a quarter of this time in a S.U.V.

On mornings that he takes the subway from home, Mr. Bloomberg is picked up at his Upper East Side town house by a pair of king-size Chevrolet Suburbans. The mayor is driven 22 blocks to the subway station at 59th Street and Lexington Avenue, where he can board an express train to City Hall. His drivers zip past his neighborhood station, a local subway stop a five-minute walk away.

That means Mr. Bloomberg — whose much-discussed subway rides have become an indelible component of his public image — spends a quarter of his ostensibly subterranean commute in an S.U.V.

“I never see him,” said Namela Hossou, who sells newspapers every morning at the downtown entrance to the mayor’s nearest stop, at 77th Street, four blocks from the mayor’s house. “Never, never.”

The mayor’s chief spokesman, Stu Loeser, was asked in an interview yesterday whether being driven to an express station distanced Mr. Bloomberg from the experience of the average Manhattan subway rider. Mr. Loeser replied, “Who is the average Manhattan subway-goer? I don’t think it’s an answerable question. The mayor rides the subway like anyone else. Zips his card through, stands on the platform, and waits for a train to come.”http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/01/nyregion/01bloomberg.html?_r=1

[Lucky Luciano]

14. As I said, time is of the essence there.

Driving downtown would take much longer.

[brooklynite]

4. Thanks for ripping off the 99%

By riding for "free" you denied revenue to an underfunded public agency, that still had to pay the salaries of motormen, conductors, track workers, etc. It adds to the deficit which will have to be covered by the next fare increase on the rest of the 99%.

[Travelman]

6. No kidding

What a foolish, un-thought-out stunt with no merit whatsoever. Just screw over a bunch of other people to prove your point.

"Make me pay $2.30 (or whatever it is these days) for a Metro Card, will ya? Well, I'll fix your little red wagon! I'll perform a sanctioned-by-no one jumping of the turnstiles and bring another million or so of my friends along to get our free ride during the busiest part of the whole day. That'll show 'em! Huzzah!"

[midnight]

8. I'm pretty sure this underfunded public agency, is trying to educated us on how the 1% does this

daily to the 99%.

[brooklynite]

15. No, this under funded agency (which I work for) is doing it's job...

...getting 8 million people to work each day.

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. My thoughts exactly.

[Snake Alchemist]

5. Next up, tens of thousands protest by not paying income or property taxes.

That'll show em.

[Ikonoklast]

7. White Supremacists in the "Sovereign Citizen" movement already do so.

You've been carrying them on your shoulders for years now.

There is a difference between a one day fare strike, and a years-long non-payment of taxes.

[Snake Alchemist]

9. I am sorry you have to use comments like that.

There is always some excuse for not paying a fare or tax. Sounds like just another excuse to ride free.

[Ikonoklast]

10. I'm not following you...non-taxpaying "sovereign citizens" are getting a free ride on your taxes.

As they are on mine.

Why does that seem to bother you?

[Snake Alchemist]

12. why does tax avoidance bother me?

The usual reasons?